But What About Kings?

Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness,  in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, Titus 1:1-2 NASB

Who cannot lie – We hope that God always tells the truth.  How else could we count on His word?  Other gods of the ancient world seem to have no problem deceiving men.  They used trickery and lies in order to accomplish their agendas, but not YHVH.  He speaks the truth.  Paul reiterates this fundamental tenet of Jewish belief in the strongest possible terms.  In Greek, apseudḗs, that is, “free from all deceit,” is an adjective describing God’s character.  It’s just not possiblefor God to lie.

Except—when lying achieves the intended goal.

Ahab stood in the way of God’s purposes.  He needed to die.  Afraid that he might meet his end in battle, he called on the priests and prophets to advise him.  1 Kings 22 recounts the story.

But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not yet a prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire of him?” The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.”

Micaiah swears that he will speak only what God tells him.

When he came to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we refrain?” And he answered him, “Go up and succeed, and the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” 

But it was a lie.  Micaiah’s advice from the Lord was calculated to send Ahab into battle so that he would be killed, and that’s precisely what happened.  The text explicitly tells us of God’s deceptive plan:

The Lord said to him, ‘How?’ And he said, ‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Then He said, ‘You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.’

It seems pretty confusing, doesn’t it?  Paul writes what we all believe.  God always tells the truth.  In fact, it’s an ontological certainty.  But then there’s Micaiah.  Oops!

Christian exegetes offer various rationalizations to explain away the problem.  Here is an example”

When God asked for volunteers to “entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there” (1 Kings 22:20), a spirit (fallen angel/demon) said he would be a lying spirit in the mouth of the prophets. God gave the spirit permission to proceed, and Ahab received the message he desired.[1]

According to this explanation, God warned Ahab again and again.  Ahab resisted and continued his reign of disobedience and idolatry.  So, God finally allowed Ahab to hear what he wanted to hear, that the campaign would be successful.  In other words, Ahab deserved to die and God just facilitated the process.  But does this really explain anything?  Isn’t the text clear that God approved the lie in order to send Ahab to his death?  The author concludes:

God chose to use a lying spirit because Ahab rejected God’s rebukes and warnings all through his life and the cup of God’s wrath was full. Since God is sovereign over all of creation, He is not restricted in what or whom He can use to accomplish His holy purposes.

Apparently, since God is sovereign over everything, it’s okay if He chooses to lie.  After all, who is going to stand up against Him and complain?  Well, I can actually think of one such person—Job—and look where that got him.  Paul tells us what we want to hear.  But be careful.  Maybe Ahab is lurking in the corner.

Topical Index:  lie, Micaiah, Ahab, 1 Kings 22, apseudḗs, Titus 1:1-2

[1] https://www.gotquestions.org/lying-spirit.html